Abby

ABBY DOESN'T NEED A MAN -- THE DEVIL IS HER LOVER NOW!! This very rare film which I was lucky enough to see the one week it played here in downtown Los Angeles during the Seventies (the prints were destroyed soon after the makers of The Exorcist sued for copyright infringement and won) is not only a great entry into the possession genre, but also one of the prime examples of true blaxploitation cinema. It stars William Marshall of Blacula fame as the exorcist, Carol Speed from The Big Bird Cage as the possessed woman, Austin Stoker from Assault On Precinct Thirteen, Terry Carter, and Juanita Moore from Imitation Of Life... truly an exceptional cast brought together in a film that must be seen to be believed.

Carol Speed portrays the girl named Abby who is a minister's wife and marriage counselor, qualities that do not prevent a demon from entering her body in one unusual shower scene. Abby then spouts foul language, goes nuts in a church, scares a white woman to death, jumps a funeral director in a hearse, acts like she's on drugs and generally gets very weird throughout. William Marshall is the man who must deal with the demon, and here his Shakespearean training shows. Austin Stoker is the friend who helps Terry Carter deal with a possessed wife. Juanita for some reason keeps talking about having a good man and eating fried chicken. All the cliches are in this one, and only the truly jaded won't be offended in some way!

SEE Abby throw a man across a room! SEE Abby seduce a man in a hearse! SEE Carol Speed talk like Isaac Hayes! SEE one obviously derivative yet well done scene after another! SEE an exorcism in a disco! SEE Abby fight her way out of a hospital! SEE Juanita Moore look like she wished she was elsewhere! Try and catch this one if you can, and become one of the initiated!

Though I knew there were some DVD copies around, I guess I should thank YouTube for finally being able to watch this movie since that's where I discovered it. Having seen it, I can see why Warner Brothers sued and won their lawsuit against American International for blatantly copying WB's hit The Exorcist. Sure, the differences are that one involved a girl child and the other a grown woman but they both have shaking furniture and demonic possession in which they both say very vulgar things involving sex. Okay, with that out of the way, let me say what I think of it. I thought it was hilarious whenever the title character played by Carol Speed had-through the voice of Bob Holt-said all those blatantly provocative remarks to various people but after that, I managed to also find some genuine scares and thrills. Both Ms. Speed and William Marshall as Bishop Garnet Williams who tries to get the demon out of her provide great presence in their scenes together. But the supporting players of Terry Carter (Rev. Emmett Williams, Abby's husband and Garnet's son), Austin Stoker (Abby's brother Det. Cass Potter), and especially Juanita Moore (Miranda "Momma" Potter) also hold their own against them. If there's one thing I have a beef with, it's the print I watched. Perhaps because of that lawsuit, no one's bothered to restore it. So the one I saw looked washed out. Still, the sound wasn't bad so that's a plus. Really, all I'll say now is if you get the chance to watch Abby, go for it! P.S. How interesting that after not sharing a scene in The Mack, Ms. Speed and Ms. Moore played daughter and mother in this. And nice to hear Carol's writing and singing skills with the song "My Soul is a Witness".

Do not doubt this film's fabulousness. Doubt its credibility, maybe, but not its sheer power to amuse. But this posting is here to dispel some misinformation, not to review the movie. Suffice it to say, if you have a sense of irony and don't need MST3K to tell you what's funny, you'll enjoy it. About four scenes were taken directly from THE EXORCIST, but there were about a dozen movies that were much more derivative.

Actually, Warner Brothers lost their lawsuit in '78, but AIP didn't rerelease it out of fear of WB's corporate muscle, and because the EXORCIST craze was basically over with. I sometimes wonder if WB would have sued someone who was (or claimed to be) actually possessed during this period, as they seemed to think they had possession itself copyrighted. Listen closely: WB did not, and could not, order all prints destroyed. The movie simply went into limbo. It has been doing very well on bootleg video, and if the copyright holders (formerly AIP) wished to do so, they could find a good print and put it out on video legitamately, and rake in the dough.

There are a few good performances in Abby, but it's never anywhere near as shocking or memorable as the film it's trying copy, The Exorcist. After the midpoint, things take a nosedive and it becomes repetitive and boring as Abby goes out to bars trying to seduce men and her husband and father-in-law trying to find her.

Scary, hilarious, and vastly better than its reputation suggests, Abby has a number of moments where you don't know whether to laugh or scream. I, personally, ended up laughing most of the time. One of these scenes has Abby (Carol Speed) beating up a concerned family friend while chanting, "Here we go 'round the merry-go-round, merry-go-round, merry-go-round...." Another moment has Abby obscenely salivating over chicken blood. Still another is when she rips open her blouse and begins spouting four-letter words at a marriage-counseling session. Then there's the discotheque exorcism, with the demon bellowing and swearing as the joint is telekinetically demolished. A lot of the movie is ridiculous, yes, but that's why it's so horrific. If it were rational, what would be the point?

Some scenes, however, fall off the humor-horror fence onto the comedy side. The best example of this is Abby's performance of the soulful "My Soul is a Witness" in the church choir. The problem is, Carol can't sing! Another character mentions her "angelic voice." Apparently the angels live in her sinuses! Then there's the use of fried chicken as a constant theme and Juanita Moore's sage pearls of wisdom about "lovin' a good man."

The performances range from passable to quite good. The best comes from the always dignified, commanding William Marshall as the exorcist. Paula Henderson's main theme, "Will We Find Our Tomorrows," is memorable, as is most everything else about the movie. Though it's often silly, Abby is never dull.

Trivia: Made for $500,000, Abby was a substantial success, grossing $9 million during its month in theaters. After that month, Warners sued and profits were frozen. Director William Girdler died two weeks after the suit was settled and never saw a dime.